[cshenk]

Hi, helping a friend here. She's looking for simple plans for a radiator
cover. I see nothing like what I have seen in other's houses when it's a
kitchen.

Design looked for I can possibly spec out myself. Basically a 5ft or so
section of wall in a kitchen that can't be used due to radiator and a
shortage of kitchen counterspace.

I am thinking heavy legs on all 4 corners and a middle set of legs. On top,
butcher block and make it about 20 inches so there's countertop usable
space. Now on sides and front, attach a pretty metal grill (lace
patterened). There's sufficient clearance above and on all sides to still
be fire safe.

Any additional ideas I may have missed?

[Oren[_2_]]

On Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:41:57 -0400, "cshenk" wrote:

Hi, helping a friend here. She's looking for simple plans for a radiator
cover. I see nothing like what I have seen in other's houses when it's a
kitchen.

Design looked for I can possibly spec out myself. Basically a 5ft or so
section of wall in a kitchen that can't be used due to radiator and a
shortage of kitchen counterspace.

I am thinking heavy legs on all 4 corners and a middle set of legs. On top,
butcher block and make it about 20 inches so there's countertop usable
space. Now on sides and front, attach a pretty metal grill (lace
patterened). There's sufficient clearance above and on all sides to still
be fire safe.

Any additional ideas I may have missed?


You want something, easily movable and easy repairs. I have seen three
sided radiator covers. Shelf on top and can still pull it away from
the wall.

Just thinking about the future...

[cshenk]

"Oren" wrote
"cshenk" wrote:

Hi, helping a friend here. She's looking for simple plans for a radiator
cover. I see nothing like what I have seen in other's houses when it's a
kitchen.

Any additional ideas I may have missed?

You want something, easily movable and easy repairs. I have seen three
sided radiator covers. Shelf on top and can still pull it away from
the wall. Just thinking about the future...

Agreed fully. I can flesh out the plan a bit more. Pretty sure no room for
a back (against wall) stantion piece. Was planning a 3 sided sort you can
just pull away from the wall.

In this one, she also has side shelves (at least one one side) to use for
rising bread in the leached warmth in winter.

[RicodJour]

On Apr 21, 5:41*pm, "cshenk" wrote:
Hi, helping a friend here. *She's looking for simple plans for a radiator
cover. *I see nothing like what I have seen in other's houses when it's a
kitchen.

Design looked for I can possibly spec out myself. *Basically a 5ft or so
section of wall in a kitchen that can't be used due to radiator and a
shortage of kitchen counterspace.

I am thinking heavy legs on all 4 corners and a middle set of legs. *On top,
butcher block and make it about 20 inches so there's countertop usable
space. *Now on sides and front, attach a pretty metal grill (lace
patterened). *There's sufficient clearance above and on all sides to still
be fire safe.

Any additional ideas I may have missed?

The design of the radiator cover can have a huge impact on the
effectiveness of the radiator. I ran across a site that had showed
the different cross sections of radiator covers and their relative
efficiency. I'll see if I can find it...hang on.

Damn, sorry it took so long. Here it is:
http://www.heatinghelp.com/newsletter.cfm?Id=77

From that illustration you can see that the enclosure can have a
tremendous effect on the heating capacity of a radiator - something
like a 40% swing in effective capacity. When the old timers sized a
system's radiators, they could fine tune comfort levels in particular
rooms by painting the radiators a different color (metallic paints put
out the least amount of heat, white, black and terra cotta put out the
most), or building a radiator enclosure with a particular design which
would increase or decrease the heating capacity of that radiator.

R

[RicodJour]

Here's one link to painting radiators and its effects of heating
efficiency:
http://www.heatinghelp.com/newsletter.cfm?Id=38
The one about the particular colors of paint is floating around
somewhere - I'll see if I can find it and post it later.

R

[jim]

On Apr 21, 10:37*pm, RicodJour wrote:
Here's one link to painting radiators and its effects of heating
efficiency:http://www.heatinghelp.com/newsletter.cfm?Id=38
The one about the particular colors of paint is floating around
somewhere - I'll see if I can find it and post it later.

R

It's a shame to hide cast iron rads. We blasted and repainted ours
placing a marble slab shelf on each. Looks great.

[Han]

"cshenk" wrote in
:

"Oren" wrote
"cshenk" wrote:

Hi, helping a friend here. She's looking for simple plans for a
radiator cover. I see nothing like what I have seen in other's
houses when it's a kitchen.

Any additional ideas I may have missed?

You want something, easily movable and easy repairs. I have seen
three sided radiator covers. Shelf on top and can still pull it away
from the wall. Just thinking about the future...

Agreed fully. I can flesh out the plan a bit more. Pretty sure no
room for a back (against wall) stantion piece. Was planning a 3 sided
sort you can just pull away from the wall.

In this one, she also has side shelves (at least one one side) to use
for rising bread in the leached warmth in winter.

In our former home, I built bookcases under the windows with a "hole"
where the radiators were. I put an aluminum foil-like thingy behind the
radiator to insulate the wall a bit more and reflect the heat (forget the
official name). Highly recommended. In addition, in front of the
radiator itself, I left about 3 inches at the bottom and the top open,
the remainder was a piece of radiator front metal patterned mesh bought
in the local hardware store or predecessor of HD. This setup had the
advantage of acting as a conduit to blow the heated air into the room,
totally by passive convection, no fans, but strong nevertheles. We had
steam heat. Whole setup worked beautifully!

--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid

[Han]

RicodJour wrote in news:5894a52c-bdc6-42e7-acaa-
:

Here's one link to painting radiators and its effects of heating
efficiency:
http://www.heatinghelp.com/newsletter.cfm?Id=38
The one about the particular colors of paint is floating around
somewhere - I'll see if I can find it and post it later.

R


Agree with your posts!

--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid

[SBH[_2_]]

The design of the radiator cover can have a huge impact on the
effectiveness of the radiator. I ran across a site that had showed
the different cross sections of radiator covers and their relative
efficiency. I'll see if I can find it...hang on.

Damn, sorry it took so long. Here it is:
http://www.heatinghelp.com/newsletter.cfm?Id=77

From that illustration you can see that the enclosure can have a
tremendous effect on the heating capacity of a radiator - something
like a 40% swing in effective capacity. When the old timers sized a
system's radiators, they could fine tune comfort levels in particular
rooms by painting the radiators a different color (metallic paints put
out the least amount of heat, white, black and terra cotta put out the
most), or building a radiator enclosure with a particular design which
would increase or decrease the heating capacity of that radiator.

That was fast for me.

Does the same apply to baseboard radiant heating? I would assume it does
since the concept is still the same. Therefore, I made my own covers out of
finish grade pine (no knots) and stained and polyed them to match my oak
floors. I tried two different designs on separate rooms. One, I routed
grooves to emulate the grill appearance on top of the main board while
leaving an inch along the bottom. The other, I left the top intact, such as
a shelf, also leaving an inch on the bottom and another inch along the top
of the face.

I heard of the aluminum foil concept behind it for better results after I've
completed them which I will install this summer.

[Granby]

"RicodJour" wrote in message
...
Here's one link to painting radiators and its effects of heating
efficiency:
http://www.heatinghelp.com/newsletter.cfm?Id=38
The one about the particular colors of paint is floating around
somewhere - I'll see if I can find it and post it later.

R

Hello, my name is Granby and what I want is to build a table over the hot
water radiator that runs across the floor. All the things that were
described to you were so that it could be a counter top cork space and such.

I hope my friend will continue to answer any questions you may have. Am
blind and usually top post but understand it isn't permitted here. Had help
getting to the right spot this time. Thank you for any help you can be.

[cshenk]

"Granby" wrote
"RicodJour" wrote in message

The one about the particular colors of paint is floating around
somewhere - I'll see if I can find it and post it later.

Hello, my name is Granby and what I want is to build a table over the hot
water radiator that runs across the floor. All the things that were
described to you were so that it could be a counter top cook space and
such.

I hope my friend will continue to answer any questions you may have. Am
blind and usually top post but understand it isn't permitted here. Had
help getting to the right spot this time. Thank you for any help you can
be.

I have and I've gathered some info together from various posts. The one on
the paint color and how a cover can reduce the effective heat isnt relevant
to your specific design but was very good information. RJ came from the
angle of the full cover which can and does limit the heat output. He didnt
know enough on the need because I didnt add enough for him to tell us what
was needed.

The main tip so far useful to you is to make it a 3 sided design so you can
actually pull it away from the wall at need to do either maintenance on the
radiator or some other need. I agree and my idea allowed for that.

This would mean a foot at each corner and one in the center front (or 2, you
didnt tell me exactly how wide the radiator is). You will want about 1 inch
thick butcher block wood for the top so will need sturdy 'legs' to support
it so it doesnt sag. I am thinking 2x4 which you can sand down and make
look nice for that. A pretty metal grill at front and sides is a nice
touch, but not essential.

Would there be a stud behind the unit in the wall you can then attach an L
shaped holder to? Think of it as just 'hanging there' and holding up the
back of the butcher block about midway or could be more than one spot you
want to add them to. It's too keep the top from sagging over time.

For the rest, please understand that while screen readers for the blind have
some odd quirks in posting, she's not needing more than basics of design.
We just got a bit too 'off topic' for the breadmakers forum when we talked
about how her kitchen didnt have enough counterspace due to location of
radiator taking up a large amount of wall space. She's experienced with
tools and has done projects before.

So for the rest of you, a pretty much freestanding table with possible
support at the back that just rests on an L joint. I am relatively sure she
needs about 12 inches freespace above the radiator top before the bottom of
the 'countertop'. Less will cause warpage of the top when winter heat kicks
in? She by design will have more at the front and sides so wont be an
issue.

[cshenk]

"Han" wrote
"cshenk" wrote in

in the local hardware store or predecessor of HD. This setup had the
advantage of acting as a conduit to blow the heated air into the room,
totally by passive convection, no fans, but strong nevertheles. We had
steam heat. Whole setup worked beautifully!

Hi Han! My email isnt grunged. Could i ask you to email me if that doesnt
bother you? I just want to discuss this project in depth and be able to CC
Granby without her having to worry about screen reader for the blind top
posting getting all the yahoos up in arms (grin).

She may want something like that, if a top could also be run along it to
make 'counterspace'.